Lakewood council OKs license plate cameras near mall

LAKEWOOD - The Lakewood Sheriff's Station will be watching with 24 extra eyes.

On Tuesday, the City Council approved the purchase of a $580,000 system of surveillance and license- plate reading cameras around the exterior of Lakewood Center mall.

The cameras, to be installed by the end of the year, will be used to scan license plates and find vehicles wanted in connection with stolen vehicles, felony warrant suspects and AMBER Alerts.

The City Council has been considering the project since June 2010. The city will purchase two dozen cameras, including 20 for automatic license- plate recognition and four to pan, tilt and zoom.

The license-plate recognition cameras will monitor and scan plates on vehicles going north and south on Lakewood Boulevard and Clark Avenue and east and west along Del Amo Boulevard and Candlewood Street.

If a camera scans the license plate of a wanted vehicle, the Lakewood Sheriff's Station would be alerted and dispatchers would use the pan, tilt and zoom cameras to monitor the suspect vehicle and send deputies to follow it.

The license-plate cameras will be located at the four main intersections around the mall.

The pan, tilt and zoom cameras also will be located at four intersections inside the mall's perimeter.

Higher permit fees

In other business, the City Council approved an 18 percent increase in residential and business building and safety permits.

The fees will go into effect Sept. 24.

The cost, for example, to review and inspect a new residential electrical panel would rise from $67 to $79. The cost to review and inspect a typical $7,000 roof would increase from $209 to $247.

The fees will not generate revenue for the city, but will help it break even in covering the costs to administer services such as plan checks and on-site safety inspections, said Sonia Dias Southwell, director of community development.

The fee increases are based on an outside consultant's study of the city's cost to administer the various services.

In 2011, the city issued 2,810 building and safety permits.

Bloomfield Park redo

Bloomfield Park will get a renovated preschool play area by spring 2013.

The City Council approved a $404,911 bid from Romberg Excavation & Operations to build the play area. It will feature equipment designed for kids from 2 to 5 years old.